The mission of this group is to strengthen the response to organized retail crime through collaboration among law enforcement, retailers, loss prevention professionals, prosecutors, and other community partners. By sharing information, identifying trends, coordinating investigations, and addressing gaps in the criminal justice process, the group can improve property recovery, case outcomes, and offender accountability.

Anne Arundel County has maintained a strong foundation for this effort through existing partnerships involving retail theft investigations, pawn activity, MAORCA, AUROR, and regional ORC meetings. Recent collaboration between loss prevention representatives, law enforcement, and the State’s Attorney’s Office has also shown how bringing stakeholders together can identify procedural problems and create practical solutions.

Organized retail crime extends far beyond isolated shoplifting and can affect businesses, employees, customers, and the broader community.